PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Visitors are still welcome at Presque Isle Rehab and Nursing Center amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But they’re going to have to answer a few questions first.
Since Tuesday, administrator Mark McKenna has required that a nurse interview all visitors at the door about their recent medical and travel history. Then, the nurse takes their temperatures: if it measures 100.4 or higher, they are asked to leave.
For McKenna, it is a common sense solution to protect his residents from COVID-19, which has now killed thousands worldwide. Indeed, he estimated that the median age of residents in the home was 80 — some of the most susceptible to contracting and dying from the virus.
That’s not the only precaution the home has taken. Staff is also asking visitors to wash their hands thoroughly in a hands-free sink, with as much soap as they need. And while it is hand sanitizer that is flying off the shelf throughout Maine, McKenna said research has shown that soap is a far more effective way to fight COVID-19.
And what happens if someone is found to have COVID-19 inside the home? He said Northern Light AR Gould Hospital, which is right next to the nursing home facility, had sent a memo to his nursing home on Friday on what to do if they suspect someone has COVID-19.
AR Gould asked that the suspected person receive testing within the home instead of being brought to the hospital, a guideline McKenna said he would follow.
“They prefer the tests be done here rather than expose anybody over there,” McKenna said.
McKenna said he would move the person into a room by themselves, have the test done inside, and then ensure that they follow the standard 48-hour quarantine as they await the results.
He said that staff had not suspected anyone in the 67-bed nursing home of having COVID-19 so far. While there was always the possibility of that scenario, he said preventive measures by the home would “greatly reduce” the risk of residents contracting the virus as well as the standard flu.
McKenna’s office is adorned with several different multi-colored binders featuring guidelines, including the infection control manual that he and his staff had been utilizing the last few days. He said he had also participated in webinars involving the Maine Center for Disease Control, including one explicitly addressing nursing homes.
McKenna said the COVID-19 situation continued to be in flux: he and his staff do not currently plan on banning visitors. But, if the situation were to shift, or either the federal Center for Disease Control or the Maine Center for Disease Control were to issue new guidelines, policies could change in a flash.
He said he would continue to keep a close watch on a situation he knows residents and his families are deeply concerned about.
“Every day, our job is to protect our vulnerable population,” McKenna said.
